♪ On the road, on the road ♪
- I think this next place you're gonna really love,
I know I haven't told you yet.
- The bathroom?
- Actually yes.
We need to do a bathroom stop. - Yes, definitely.
- We are going to a place
where there is something you love, soccer.
Get some soccer, soccer dancing.
And it's with a group of kids
from literally all over the world,
and they're all survivors of war.
But they come together to learn and grow
as the Fugees Family.
And you get to play soccer with them.
- Oh man, I haven't played in a while,
I'm gonna get humiliated.
- No, you'll be fine, you got this.
- I hope so.
♪ Here we go, here we go, here we go ♪
♪ Here we go, here we go ♪
- Ooh, turn down for what?
- [Kid President] Brad took me to Clarkston, Georgia.
It was there we met the amazing coach, Luma.
She helps lead the Fugees Academy.
A place of healing for refugees, more than 20 years,
and their soccer league The Fugees Family.
And that's just what it is, a family.
- For me growing up I was always an outsider.
My parents put me in schools were I was the only Arab
or the only Muslim in the school,
and so I wanted a place where everybody can be
whoever they want to be without any judgments.
Especially to kids and families who've been abandoned,
and who don't have their village.
You know, it's like most of our kids are used to
grandmas, and aunts, and uncles, and cousins,
and everything, and they come here and that's all gone.
And so we kinda fill that role.
- [Kid President] This place it's incredible.
Everywhere I turn we're making new friends.
She took me around, she showed me everything.
- So, a lot of the kids
come with little or no English,
so English is a big focus throughout the whole year.
And all our students will be the first in their families
to finish high school,
and about 80% of them will be first in their families
to finish middle school.
And we try to fix up our students as much as possible.
We try not to have one ethnic majority based on their
home countries where they might be killing each other
and here they're friends and they're teammates.
And sometimes dating, but we don't tell their parents, so...
- [Kid President] This place was amazing.
They're creating art, learning how to do animation,
writing, solving equations,
and doing this all next to people
who are really different from them.
We found three best friends who are all
from completely different places.
- I left Syria in 2015 because of the war.
I went to Turkey.
In 2017 I came to United States.
- I'm from Sudan.
Um, I went to Jordan for two years
and then I came to the USA in 2014.
- We were born and raised in Thailand.
We came here in, um, 2009.
- [Kid President] All totally different,
but all best friends.
A table where everybody belongs.
- He enjoys my culture, I enjoy his culture,
I enjoy her culture.
Just and, I like to learn new things about people
and this school is like perfect place.
- We just came to the school and then
we meet all these beautiful people, Miso,
Abdullah, yeah.
- All these beautiful people and Abdulmalik.
- [Kid President] They made us feel right at home.
Like we've known them forever.
Like we're best friends.
I guess they learned that from Coach Luma.
- You know, people always try to come up with,
"What makes great schools?"
And for me it's like, if a kid feels safe and loved,
that's what makes a great school.
It's not that complicated.
- My home is this, this is my home.
Like, I feel safe.
Like, everyday I come here with a smile on my face.
I'm gonna cry.
Like, I feel happy.
Like, Coach Luma is always there to help us.
- My grandmother is the person I always go back to.
Anyone that would come to her door,
she would give whatever she had.
You know, whether it was food or money, it's like
and her children would be angry at her.
They're like, "People are taking advantage of you."
And she's like, "It's not for me to judge.
"If someone asks for help, I give all that I can."
And it really stuck with me.
It's like you give everything that you're capable of giving.
- She just does things for us
and we're always find, like,
looking for a way to pay her back.
We ask her sometimes and she's like,
"Learn and become successful,
"that's how you are paying me back."
- [Brad] Ahhh.
- And then I'm like, OK.
- We can never tell if she's, like,
happy or sad because she has the same, like,
facial expression.
- What do you like the most about soccer?
- It brings people together.
- Just put a soccer ball in there, like play.
And you don't really need to know
her language or his language.
You find yourself communicating with others,
not even using words.
- Win or lose, you put your effort in playing.
- You're all totally going to whip me today,
so I'm going to tell you that for a fact.
- You played soccer before?
- Yeah.
- What position? - Mid.
- [Group Oof students] Mmm.
- Well, then came the big test, soccer time.
Now I heard Coach could be tough but those workouts...
- [Luma] Let's go.
- [Luma] Your team's up, everyone else go to the wall.
- [Kid President] If there was a picture
of what the world could be like,
people of all different types, just being people.
Playing, laughing, cheering for each other.
Maybe this is how it's supposed to be.
We're not there yet,
but every now and then we see glimpses
of how things could be.
- Sometimes when I tell people about our work, or something,
they try to find excuses not to get involved.
Cause, "Oh, it's so big."
I was like, this problem isn't that big.
It's like a small school here in Atlanta,
a school in Columbus.
And you help your community, or you help one kid at a time
and then it becomes huge impact.
Like I remember going to this
conference on college readiness
and they put up all these charts
saying what is going to contribute to being successful.
And I walked out of there, I was like, "We're screwed."
Because everything says that not one of them will finish.
You know, cause they grew up in war,
and violence, and poverty,
and no one in their family was literate.
And then they do it.
- [Kid President] It takes work,
but that kind of work, it's worth it.
People are people
and we need each other, people.
We all need to belong.
We all need a space where we can belong.
Even her, and him, and you.
To family, to team, let's do this.